


Put Back Together

by 27summer



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 16:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19177156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27summer/pseuds/27summer
Summary: Instead of getting kidnapped after sleeping with Sergio, Juliana and Valentina tried to work through everything.





	Put Back Together

Juliana was in a daze as she made her way out of Sergio’s. She had nowhere to go but she couldn’t stay there with him. Why had she done that? She didn’t love Sergio, she barely even liked him. It was awful, not anything like it had been with Val.

God, Val would be so hurt if she found out about this. She would think Juliana had broken up with her just to be with someone else. Not just someone else but one of her friends. This was a mess. She had wanted to keep Valentina safe by being away from her. She’d never wanted to hurt her.

“Juliana? Are you okay?” Panchito looked at her in concern. “What are you doing here?”

“I- I don’t know.” Juliana glanced around, realizing she had wandered a long way from Sergio’s without even realizing it.

“You look awful. You need to go home.”

Juliana scoffed. “My mom doesn’t want me there.”

“She’s just-”

“Panchito, please. It’s been a long day. I don’t want to talk about her.” Juliana sighed. She really didn’t have time for this. She still had to find some place to sleep for the night.

“Okay,” Panchito said quietly. “Where are you staying? With Valentina?”

“Ha! No, I screwed that up forever.” Juliana shook her head, desperate to get away. “Look, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Come on. You’re coming with me.” Panchito took her arm.

“I’m sure your wife will love that.”

“We’re splitting up. She took the kids to see her mother for a few days. So you can stay with me until things calm down with your mother,” Panchito said.

“Really?” Juliana looked at him seriously. It would be nice not to have to think for a few days. Panchito wouldn’t push her to talk or anything. And maybe she could sort out the mess that was her life.

“Yes.” Panchito nodded. “What do you say?”

“Yeah, okay.” Juliana released a relieved breath.

“Good. Come on. Let’s get something to eat.” Panchito smiled and Juliana couldn’t help but smile back. She just needed a few hours of calm so she could think and figure out what to do next. And then, maybe she could look Valentina in the eye and she might forgive her.

\--------------

Forcing her face still, Valentina looked at Lucho. She couldn’t let him know he’d gotten to her. She didn’t even know if what he was saying was true. Juliana wouldn’t tell him anything. And it didn’t make sense.

“You see? I told you she wasn’t good for you. I knew she would hurt you. You should have listened to me,” Lucho said.

“Are you kidding me?” Valentina laughed bitterly. “You hurt me, Lucho. You complained all of the time because I was sad my dad died. Why would I want to talk to you about this?”

“Because I was right,” Lucho repeated, grabbing her arm.

“Don’t touch me. I’m not doing this with you.” Valentina yanked her arm away.

“Are you going to her? After what she did?” He demanded.

“It’s none of your business,” Valentina snapped. She walked away from him. Nothing good would come from continuing to talk with Lucho. She didn’t want to believe him but why would he lie when she could ask Sergio. And she didn’t think Sergio would lie to Lucho. So it had to be true. Juliana had broken up with her and slept with Sergio.

Valentina got into her car, telling Alirio to just drive. She wouldn’t talk to Lucho. She couldn’t talk to Eva about this. And Guille wasn’t around. She had nobody. She just needed to get away.

It was quiet in the car. Valentina kept her eyes closed, letting the motion of the car lull her almost to sleep. This was the first moment of peace she’d had in forever. It seemed like there was always some crisis she had to deal with. Even when she had been with Juliana, there had never been a time there was something going on.

Oh, Juliana. Valentina didn’t know what to do about her. They were barely speaking, they had broken up. She hardly had the right to be upset. Even if the thought of Juliana and Sergio made her want to scream. But there was nothing she could do. Getting angry wouldn’t change anything. She just had to stay away from the both of them. She couldn’t imagine being friends with them if they were together. It would be too hard. Staying away from Juliana would be difficult but it had to be done. 

This was a total mess. Her whole life was a mess. Nothing was like she wanted it to be. And there was nothing she could do to change it.

\-----------

“Hey, Panchito.” Juliana came into the house, smiling tiredly at him.

“Hey. Good day at work?” Panchito placed a plate of food in front of her as she sat down.

“Yeah. Thanks. You didn’t have to cook for me.”

“It’s no problem.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Panchito spoke again. “Have you talked to your mom?”

“No,” Juliana said shortly.

“Juliana-”

“Look, if you’re tired of me, I can leave. It’s no big deal.” Juliana pushed away her plate.

“That’s not what I meant, although my wife will be back at the end of the week.”

“So I need to go. I get it.”

“No.” Panchito grabbed her wrist. “I just want to know what your plans are. You’ve got to talk to your mom sometime.”

“What’s the point? She doesn’t want me around if I’m in love with Valentina.” Juliana crossed her arms. She didn’t want to talk about this but Panchito had let her stay with him. She couldn’t exactly refuse.

“What does Valentina think about all this?” Panchito asked quietly.

Juliana snorted. “I haven’t told her. We broke up and I ruined everything.”

“She cares about you. I’m sure-”

“I slept with someone else!” Juliana burst out. “A guy. It was awful and I hated it and Val’s going to hate me.”

“I- Okay.” Panchito pulled his chair over to Juliana’s.

“Sorry. You don’t want to hear about this.” Juliana looked away.  
“No, it’s fine.” Panchito placed a hand over hers. “I think you need to talk about it.”

“I- I was drinking and Sergio was there and I thought maybe I could do it. Maybe I could be with a man and it would be okay. But it wasn’t.” Juliana buried her face into her hands.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Juliana,” Panchito said.

“I just wanted thinks to be easier,” Juliana said, lifting her head. “But I messed everything up even worse and Val’s going to hate me.”

“She’s going to be hurt but I don’t think that girl could ever hate you.” Panchito looked at her.

“That’s- that’s even worse.” Juliana blinked back tears.

“I know. It’s not easy when you’ve hurt someone you love.” Panchito patted her back. “But I think you need to talk to her. And your mom. Nothing’s going to change until you do.”

“You’re probably right. But I can’t.” Juliana shook her head. “Valentina- I hate when she’s upset.”

“You made a mistake, Juliana. But you’re not a bad person.”

“It feels like I am.” Juliana stood up. “I- Thanks for talking to me but I can’t anymore. I just need to be alone. I’m going to go for a walk.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” Panchito smiled at her.

“Bye.” Juliana walked out. She couldn’t talk about it anymore. She knew she had to figure out what she was going to do. She had to talk to her mom and to Val. But she just needed a minute where she didn’t have to worry about anything. Because nothing in her life was easy.

\------------------

It was a nice day but Valentina hardly noticed as she made her way through the park. She’d had Alirio drop her off, needing some time away. Eva was all over her. You’d think it would be enough that she wasn’t with Juliana anymore but nothing she did could please Eva. And Lucho kept showing up, expecting her to want to be with him. And she just didn’t. Even if she never spoke to Juliana again, she was done with Lucho. She just wished he would understand that.

In her desperation to have some peace, Valentina hadn’t noticed that she’d been dropped off at the same park where she and Juliana had met. Of course. She wanted to avoid thinking about anything so she was stuck in a place where she couldn’t help but remember.

“Oh!” Valentina bumped into someone and she reached out to steady her. “Sorry, I- Juliana!”

“Valentina!” Juliana looked up at her with wide eyes. “It was my fault.”

“No, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Valentina stared at Juliana, her heart starting to race like it always did when they were together.

“That- that’s okay.” Juliana bit her lip, a shy smile on her face.

“Okay,” Valentina repeated, unsure of what to say. A part of her was thrilled to be close to Juliana but the other part kept picturing her and Sergio together.

“How- how are you doing?” Juliana asked.

“Fine.” Valentina shrugged. She hated feeling awkward around Juliana. Like she couldn’t talk to her. It was horrible.

“That- that’s good.” Juliana shifted on her feet, avoiding Valentina’s eyes.

“How- how are things with your mom?” Valentina asked, cringing when Juliana’s face feel. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“No. I’d like to think we’re- we’re friends,” Juliana stumbled over the words. “It’s just not good.”

“I’m sorry.” Valentina clenched her fists to keep from reaching out for her. She didn’t have the right to comfort her anymore.

“Not your fault.” Juliana shook her head.

“I just wish I could make things better for you,” Valentina said. Despite everything, she wanted Juliana to be happy more than anything.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got Lucho to take care of.” Juliana scoffed.

“What? Lucho?”

“I saw you two. I know you’re back together,” Juliana said.

“No, we’re not.” Valentina rolled her eyes.  
“It’s cool. We aren’t together anymore.”

“I know. Because you slept with Sergio,” Valentina snapped. She didn’t want to hear about it but she couldn’t say nothing when Juliana talked about Lucho.

“I- You know about me and Sergio?” Julian asked, briefly meeting Valentina’s eyes.

“Lucho told me,” Valentina grumbled.

“Of course he did.” Juliana laughed. “He’s trying to get you back.”

“He is. But I don’t want him. He doesn’t matter. You do.” Valentina stared at her, hoping Juliana would say something to fix this. That would stop the hurt.

“I- I didn’t do anything wrong.” Juliana ducked her head. “We were broken up.”

“I know.” Valentina dropped her eyes to the ground, her hopes falling fast. She had hoped Juliana would be able to make it better. To make the pain stop.

“I’m sorry,” Juliana whispered.

“Don’t be. You can do what you want.” Valentina crossed her arms, needing some distance between them.

“I didn’t want- It’s not like that.” Juliana reached out for her but Valentina backed away.

“He’s always liked you. And now, you can make your mom happy. Win-win for everyone.” Valentina chuckled.

“That’s an awful thing to say.” Juliana looked at her sadly.

“What, it’s true. Your mom would probably be thrilled.” Valentina knew she was being cruel but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“I’m not with Sergio,” Juliana said. “I didn’t like it. I don’t even like him.”

Valentina shook her head. “I just don’t understand why you broke up with me just to sleep with him.”

“I didn’t- That’s not what happened. At all.” Juliana blew out a breath. “I didn’t pick him over you. I-”

“I can’t do this. I can’t listen to you talk about him. I thought it would make things better but it’s not.” Valentina could feel her tears coming on and she fought it. She couldn’t show Juliana how hurt she was.

“Val, please.”

“No, I- I can’t. I just- Good bye, Juliana.” Valentina spun around and ran away, ignoring Juliana calling after her. She didn’t care what Juliana had to say. It wouldn’t fix anything and would probably make her feel worse. She just wanted to stop thinking.

\-----------------

Pulling a pillow over her head, Juliana tried desperately to ignore her mother. She had finally gone back to her and they had talked. She thought they had agreed to avoid the subject of Valentina but her mom started up again and would not drop it.

“Ma! Please! I don’t want to talk about this. Valentina’s not going to be around so you don’t have to worry,” Juliana said angrily, sitting up to glare at her.

“Why won’t you talk to me? If you’re done with her, I should know,” Lupita said.

“Because I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But things are fine now,” Lupita said.

“Whatever. I’m only back here because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” Juliana hated to admit it but she was out of options.

“Juliana-”

“I’m exhausted. Can I please just go to sleep?” Juliana flipped over, letting out a relieved breath when her mom walked away.

Juliana need to sleep but it proved impossible. She kept reliving her argument with Valentina. She had been so hurt and Juliana couldn’t blame her. Yeah, they weren’t together but Valentina still deserved better. And Valentina thought she actually liked Sergio.

This whole situation was a disaster. Juliana wanted to fix it but Valentina wouldn’t even listen to her. She didn’t exactly blame her but how could they get back to being friends if they didn’t talk?

Who was she even kidding? She didn’t want to be friends with Valentina and Valentina didn’t want to be friends with her. It was so hard to be around Valentina when she couldn’t have her the way she wanted. So maybe it was better this way. There were still so many reasons for them to stay away from each other. Maybe Valentina hating her was for the best.

Except it didn’t feel like it was for the best. Juliana just wanted to be with Val the way they were before. She wanted to forget everything else but the way she felt with her. But it wasn’t that easy.

Juliana sighed. This wasn’t getting settled tonight. She wasn’t even sure she could fix things. The look on Valentina’s face wouldn’t leave her mind. She had never wanted to do anything that would hurt Valentina. But she had. And everything was a total mess now. She just didn’t know what to do.

\----------------------

“Up, up. Come on. Let’s go.” Lucia walked into Valentina’s bedroom and pulled her out of bed.

“What? Lucia, I’m not in the mood. I just want to be alone,” Valentina grumbled.

“You’ve been alone for days. It’s time to get out of this room. You’re coming with me,” Lucia said.

“I don’t want to deal with Eva,” Valentina said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We’ll go get something to eat. You can avoid your sister but you’re not going to stay holed up in this room any longer.” Lucia looked at her expectantly.

“Fine.” Valentina huffed and followed Lucia into the car.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong with you?” Lucia asked her as they settled into the care Alirio drove away.

“Nothing.” Valentina looked over at Lucia who was looking back. “I’m fine.”

“Val, you’re obviously not. I’m worried about you.” Lucia waited a moment. “I haven’t see Juliana around lately. Does this have to do with her?”

“I-” Valentina bit her lip. “She slept with Sergio.”

“Oh. It’s natural to ignore your friends a little when you first start dating a guy. I’m sure she’ll be around soon,” Lucia said carefully.

Valentina shook her head. “No. We- we were in love. But everything got complicated with Eva and her mom and everything that’s going on. And we broke up and she slept with him. And it hurts.”

“Oh, Val.”

“She can do what she wants. We’re not together. But it hurts so much.” Valentina burst into tears.

“Come here.” Lucia pulled Valentina into a hug, patting her back. “Shh.”

“I- I’m okay.” Valentina wiped her eyes. She did feel slightly better but she didn’t really want to talk about Juliana.

“It’s okay if you’re not. You’re allowed to feel hurt, even if you two aren’t together.” Lucia patted her shoulder.

“I don’t know.” Valentina sighed. “I just don’t know what to do. I can’t even think about being around her right now.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“But I don’t want to hate her. I can’t imagine not having her in my life.” Valentina knew she couldn’t lose Juliana completely.

“You don’t have to make any decision right now,” Lucia said.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Valentina said. “What- what should I do?”

“I think you need to ask yourself what’s worse, being just friends with Juliana or cutting her completely out of your life?” Lucia said.

“I- I need her, Lucia. It doesn’t matter. Even if it hurts, I need her,” Valentina said firmly. That was the only thing she was sure of.

“That’s your answer, then.” Lucia smiled. “But you’ve got to talk to her. Calmly. You can’t just ignore her until you’re no longer hurt.”

“I know you’re right.” Valentina shrugged. They sat silently for a while before she turned to look at Lucia. “So? What do you think?”

“About?”

“About me and Juliana being in love.” Valentina looked away, unable to face any disappointment from Lucia.

“Val, look at me.” Lucia forced Valentina’s face up. “If Juliana makes you happy, that’s all I want for you.”

“She does. Maybe not right now.” Valentina chuckled. “But I love her so much.”

“Then that’s what’s important,” Lucia said with a smile.

“Thanks. I- I really needed to hear that after Eva found out.” Valentina rolled her eyes.

“Your sister is going to do what she wants. You can’t let her affect what you do,” Lucia said.

“You’re right. But for now, I just want to eat lunch with you and forget everything else.” Valentina leaned her head on Lucia’s shoulder. She need to talk to Juliana, and she would. But first she needed to think about something else. At least for a little while.

\----------

Juliana waited impatiently for Valentina to arrive. She had texted the night before and wanted to talk. Juliana had said yes but now she was worried. She didn’t want to fight with Valentina. After everything that had happed, she just wanted things to be good between them. But that might be impossible.

“Hey, Juliana,” Valentina said quietly.

“Hey.” Juliana looked at her. “Where- What do you want to do?”

“I thought we’d just walk around for a while.” Valentina shifted on her feet anxiously.

“Okay.” Juliana nodded and they walked silently together for a few minutes. It was nice just being close to her. She knew they needed to talk about she couldn’t bear to break the good time between them.

“Juls?” Valentina nudged her. “How are doing?”

“Fine.” Juliana shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to dump her problems on Valentina.

“Really? So things are all right with your mom?” Valentina asked, looking at her knowingly.

Juliana rolled her eyes. She should have known Valentina wouldn’t let it go easily. “It’s as good as I can expect. I’m back with her but we aren’t talking about anything.”

“Back with her? Where were you before?” Valentina asked.

“I- I left home for a few days when we fought. I stayed with Panchito for a few days. Then I went and told her we didn’t have to talk about anything,” Juliana said, not really wanting to talk about it.

“But you’re okay?” Valentina looked at her worriedly.

“Yeah.” Juliana sighed. It was stressful being around her mom but she could take it. This was little compared to some of the stuff she’d had to deal with in her life.

“Are you sure? Do- do you need anything?” Valentina asked.

“No, Val. I’m fine.” Juliana shook her head fondly at her. “Besides, it’s not your job to worry about me.”

“I’ll always care, Juliana. Even if we’re having problems,” Valentina said.

“I- You’re too good to me.”

Valentina shook her head. “No, don’t say that. Promise me you’ll come to me if you ever really need help.”

“Val-”

“Promise. I know things aren’t good right now but I’ll always be there for you.” Valentina reached out and took Juliana’s hand.

“I’ll try.” Juliana squeezed Valentina’s hand. She could hardly believe they were this close again.

“I- I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” Valentina sighed. “I don’t want to lose you but I don’t know how to be your friend right now.”

“I understand.” Juliana rolled her eyes. “I messed up and I didn’t really even want to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t want to hear about this,” Juliana said.

“No, I don’t,” Valentina said honestly. “But tell me anyway.”

Juliana ran a hand through her hair. “I was upset. I’d left my mom and seen you with Lucho. I just wanted to forget things for a while. So when I ran into Sergio, we drank some Mezcal and he started talking about how you’d probably get back with Lucho.”

“What?” Valentina clenched her jaw.

“And I just started thinking maybe it would be easier if I was with him,” Juliana continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “That if I was with a guy, things would be fixed. But they weren’t. It was awful. All I felt was empty.”

“It sounds like Sergio took advantage of you,” Valentina said, sliding an arm around her back.

“No. I- He didn’t force me to do anything.” Juliana shook her head. She didn’t want to think about Sergio anymore.

“Still, I-”

“Val, he doesn’t matter,” Juliana insisted. “What matters is that I regret it and I’m sorry it happened.”

Valentina bit her lip, clearly considering her words carefully. “You- I am hurt but- you really didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Of course I did. I-”

“No. I- I don’t want you to beat yourself up over this. It’s done.” Valentina sighed. “I want us to be able to move past this.”

“How- how do we do that?” Juliana asked. She really had no idea how this would work.

“I don’t know.” Valentina laughed. “But I need you in my life. Even if it’s hard.”

“Nothing’s really changed,” Juliana said, thinking back over everything that’s gone on. “There’s still danger because of my dad and your sister and my mom still won’t accept us.”

“I know.” Valentina pursed her lips. “Maybe- maybe we should just try talking for a while. Maybe that has to be enough.”

“Maybe.” Juliana tried not to feel let down. They were in a better place now than they were when they got here. Valentina didn’t hate her. Just because things weren’t like they were before, it didn’t mean that they wouldn’t work out.

“Oh!” Valentina glanced down at her phone. “I’ve got to go home. Guille’s out of jail.”

“That’s great!” Juliana smiled at her.

“Listen, we’ll talk later, okay?” Valentina ginned.

“Yes, of course.”

“Bye, Juls.” Valentina kissed her cheek and hurried away.

“Bye.” Juliana watched as Valentina left, feeling better than she had in a long time.

\--------------------

The mood was festive with Guille home. Even Eva seemed on her best behavior, being pleasant to Renata. But Valentina just couldn’t get into it. She was glad that Guille was home and safe but she just didn’t want to celebrate. All she could think about was Juliana.

Juliana was all she wanted. She was glad they talked. Glad that they were working on getting things back to normal. And yeah, she was definitely glad to know that Juliana didn’t want to be with Sergio. She hated thinking about the whole experience but she knew they had needed to talk about it so they could move on. And she wanted to punch Sergio for taking advantage of Juliana.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Guille sat down next to her.

“Great. It’s good you’re home.” Valentina smiled, trying to keep her focus on him.

“It seems like you’re a million miles away,” Guille said.

“Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind but I’m so you’re back.”

“Hey, you’re life didn’t stop just because I was in jail.” Guille patted her back. “How are things with Juliana?”

“I wasn’t-” Valentina smiled ruefully. “How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess. But seriously, I know things weren’t great with you two before. How are they now?” Guille asked.

Valentina shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to lie but she didn’t want to get into everything with him. “Some stuff happened but we’re talking. It’s getting better, I think.”

“Do you love her?”

“What?”

“Look, after everything that’s happened, I realized you’ve got to hold on to the people you love,” Guille said. “You don’t know how long you’ll have with someone. You can’t waste time.”

“It’s not that easy.” Valentina shook her head.

“Of course it’s not. Love is hard, Val. But you’ve got to hang on to it,” Guille said, looking at her earnestly.

“I don’t know. You don’t understand everything that’s happened.” Valentina wanted to believe in his words but she couldn’t quite let herself.

“I don’t. But you don’t know how long you’ll have with Juliana. Dad died on his wedding day.” Guille shook his head. “If Juliana’s who you want, you’ve got to hang on to her. Even if she’s trying to push you away.”

“I- I’ve got to go.” Valentina stood up, knowing he was right. Everything was chaos but she couldn’t lose Juliana.

“Good luck.” Guille wrapped her up in a hug.

“I think you’re the one who needs luck. Eva’s going to flip if she finds out why I left.”

“I can handle Eva. Don’t worry about her.” Guille kissed her on the head. “Go get your girl.”

“Bye.” Valentina grinned and made her way out the door, fumbling for her phone. Guille was right. She shouldn’t waste any more time. The problems between her and Juliana shouldn’t keep them apart any longer.

\------------

Juliana sat down next to her mother. It was time they talked. Maybe nothing would change but she had to try. “Mom?”

“What?” Lupita looked at her warily.

“I want to talk about-”

“You agreed to drop it. I don’t want to talk about that girl and what she did to you,” Lupita interrupted before she could even get the words out.

“She didn’t do anything to me.” Juliana took a deep breath. “Look, forget Valentina. I- she didn’t make me fall in love with her. I just did.”

“I don’t want to hear this.”

“But it doesn’t matter because even if Valentina didn’t exist, I still wouldn’t end up with a man,” Juliana said.

“You don’t know that. You’ve never tried-”

“I did. I slept with a guy and it was horrible. I don’t ever want to be with a guy again,” Juliana said, looking her mother right in the eyes.

Lupita shook her head. “You don’t know-”

“Ma!” Juliana shouted. “You said I needed to be with a guy before I could know I loved Valentina. Well, I was and I still love her. It’s not going to change.”

“If you want me to be happy about it, I never will,” Lupita whispered.

“If that’s how you feel, okay. I don’t want to fight anymore.” Juliana clenched her fists. She desperately wished she could say something that would make her mother understand.

“I don’t, either. But I won’t accept this.” Lupita looked down at her lap.

“Fine. I- I won’t rub it in your face.” Juliana glanced down at her phone, smiling at the message from Val. “I’ve got to go.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you.” Juliana headed out the door, anxious to meet up with Valentina. She hadn’t expected to hear from her so soon but she was so happy to see her. That’s all she ever wanted.

\------------------

Spotting Juliana, Valentina got out of her car and ran over to her. “Juls. I’m glad that you could meet me.”

“Of course. Is everything all right?” Juliana asked.

“Yeah.” Valentina nodded, her smile growing as they stared at each other. “Everything’s perfect.”

“What are you doing here?” Juliana looked at her with confusion.

“I was talking to Guille and he made me realize that I don’t want to waste any more time. I just want to be with you,” Valentina said seriously.

“Val, nothing’s changed. Even forgetting Sergio, there’s still my mom and Eva and the stuff with my dad,” Juliana said.

“I know that. Everything’s in shambles.” Valentina gripped Juliana’s shoulders. “But it doesn’t matter. I love you, Juls, and I want to be with you. I don’t want to wait anymore. There’s always going to be some reason we shouldn’t be together.”

Juliana swallowed, her chin wobbling as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I don’t care.” Valentina brushed a few tears from Juliana’s face. “It’s going to be difficult but you’re worth it.”

“Val,” Juliana said helplessly.

“Do you love me? Because if you do, we can make it work. I know we can.” Valentina’s heart pounded in her chest as she waited for Juliana’s answer.

“Of course I love you, Val.” Juliana laughed through her tears. “You’re practically the only thing that makes sense in my life.”

“God, I love you.” Valentina pulled Juliana into her arms, burying her face into Juliana’s neck.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I can’t be without you anymore.” Juliana tucked some hair behind Valentina’s ear.

“You won’t have to. No matter what, it’s me and you.” Valentina lifted her head, pressing her forehead to Juliana’s.

“That’s all I want.” Juliana smiled. “We probably better go. I told my mom I wouldn’t shove this in her face.”

“You thought we’d get back together?” Valentina wrapped an arm around Juliana’s shoulder and led her to the car.

“I’d hoped.” Juliana pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Me, too.” Valentina nuzzled Juliana’s neck, content to have her close. Everything wasn’t back to normal but they were together. And that was all she really needed.


End file.
